Victorian Government in Australia Moving to Ban Chiropractors from Managing Children Under 12

According to an article published by the Australian Homoeopathic Association the Victorian Minister for Health, Jenny Mikakos, has called for a review of Chiropractic care for children following recent media attention raising ‘media concerns’ about its safety. The findings of the review are to be provided to all Australian Health Ministers later this year and could see laws changed to ban Chiropractors from providing spinal care for children under the age of 12 nationally.

While the Homeopaths and many practicing chiropractors are outraged by this, in a shocking and unprecedented move, the Chiropractic Board of Australia has actually banned the practice of spinal manipulation in children by chiropractors. The move comes after calls from the Victorian Health Minister and Australian Medical Association's President to stop the chiropractic care of children.

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Incredibly, the Chiropractic Board either lies in their announcement or reveals deep seated ignorance stating:

". . . the Board acknowledges there is no current clinical guideline, or peer-reviewed publication to guide chiropractors with respect to the care of infants and young children, and the use of spinal manipulation in particular."

Of course nothing could be farther from the truth. There is a robust base of evidence for the chiropractic management of children including practice guidelines by the Council on Chiropractic Practice and the International Chiropractors Association. Further, studies on safety and efficacy have been carried out by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association among others.

The move is clearly not based on science or research but is a political move designed to control and contain the chiropractic profession and by implementing this policy the Chiropractic Board of Australia is complicit in that action.

Adding insult to injury, the President of the Australian Chiropractic Association Anthony Coxon DC was interviewed on television about the care of children and made this absurd statement:

"Is the care likely to be effective or of benefit to young babies? Look, while there is some positive, moderate level of evidence, its not definitive at this stage.

"Certainly not at the level of evidence where we would feel confident advertising it on a website"

Click her for a video clip of his statement

The review of chiropractic care in children is being led by Safer Care Victoria, and allegedly will be overseen by a panel of experts in paediatrics and musculoskeletal care, consumers, and representatives from the Chiropractic Board of Australia and Australian Chiropractors Association.

Given the ridiculous and inaccurate statements already put out by the chiropractic board and the chiropractic association, chiropractors are finding little solace in their involvement.

The Minister of Health Jenny Mikakos also seems to have made up her mind adding further evidence that this amounts to a Kangaroo Court of sorts:

“We won’t rest until babies are protected from practices we know to be harmful, and that we can be sure children under 12 are not being exposed to harm”.

Minister Mikakos’ is only calling for:

“… parents who have experienced the dangerous practice of child spinal manipulation to have a say and share their story.”

The Homeopathic organization said it best:

"It is unclear how Minister Mikakos claims to 'know' that practices are harmful before any expert review has actually taken place to assess if this the case, especially given evidence of harm has not been demonstrated. Such comments demonstrate her strong personal views on the matter, raising concerns that the review process is underpinned by a political agenda."

According to the Homeopathic Association:

"Adding to such concerns is the appointment to the expert panel of a member of the fringe medico-skeptic group ‘Friends of Science in Medicine’ (FSM), Prof Katrina Williams, Professor of Paediatrics and Head of Department, Monash University. FSM has lobbied State and Federal governments against chiropractors and other traditional therapies since its inception in late 2011. FSM has actively campaigned against the teaching of chiropractic and its practice in the community over many years (e.g. ‘There’s no place for pseudo-scientific chiropractic in Australian universities’, The Conversation, 6 Dec 2011), disrespectfully referring to it as “fake medicine” and “ludicrous nonsense” (media release 19.02.2019). It is noteworthy that FSM members have no training, clinical or research expertise or experience in chiropractic or any other traditional therapy they target."

Spokesperson Petrina Reichman said:

“It is entirely inappropriate that a member of a lobby group with a long history of lobbying government against chiropractic should be appointed to a panel advising government. This is a clear and untenable conflict of interest and members of the panel with such affiliations should not be involved.”

No further public comments have been made by the Chiropractic Board of Australia or the Australian Chiropractic Association.

Article from the Homeopathic Association